Nearly one in five employees is either “not at all confident” or only “slightly confident” in their understanding of the benefits offered by their employer, MetLife’s 2023 employee benefit trends study found.

The reasons vary, according to The Wall Street Journal. It could be that employees just don’t bother to sign up for all the financial benefits offered by their employers, or it could be that they are just overwhelmed by all the choices.

In time for open-enrollment season, employees should review their employer’s annual offerings, some of which may have changed from previous years, according to Met Life’s senior vice president of national accounts and financial wellness and engagement, Bradd Chignoli. “Make sure you’re building that time in to truly understand what you are offered, whether you have to enroll in it or not,” he said.

Many workers don’t contribute to a company 401(k) plan, the Journal reported. Employees sometimes feel as if they can’t afford to save more, but they don’t realize that they are also forgoing the employer match on contributions. Whenever possible, employees should maximize their 401(k) options because of the benefits of tax-free savings and compounding, said Tom Gimbel, founder and chief executive of LaSalle Network, a Chicago-based staffing, recruiting and culture consulting firm, in an interview with the Journal. Employees can contribute up to $22,500 to their 401(k) this year, and $30,000 if they are 50 or older.

Many also overlook tax-advantaged accounts for medical spending. For every employer that offers a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA), only two in five employees use it, according to the MetLife study. Some employees fear losing unused FSA funds, said Jeff Faber, chief strategy officer for Hub International, a Chicago-based insurance brokerage, in an interview with Journal. Though an employee must use all the money set aside by year-end or lose it, there can be a grace period of up to two and a half extra months, according to Healthcare.gov. Some companies allow as much as $610 to be carried over to the following year.

Companies are increasingly offering student loan and tuition benefits to entice younger workers. These can include tuition reimbursement or prepaid tuition, with certain conditions. Some companies also help with student-loan payments.

At open-enrollment time, employees often can buy supplemental insurance policies at group rates, which can be considerably lower than individual rates. Many employees miss these opportunities because they may tend to check off the same boxes as they did the previous year, spending little time and effort on what may be new. Employees should research options on their own to ensure the rates and coverage being offered by their employer are indeed more favorable, The Journal advised.

Employers increasingly offer a variety of wellness programs and incentives to keep workers healthy and help keep health care costs down. They can include discounted access to clinics and other programs, but workers might not know about the benefits because of poor promotion, said Julie Stich, vice president of content for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, an educational organization focused on employee benefits, in an interview with the Journal.

Employee assistance programs that provide free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals and follow-ups for a variety of issues are often offered, but employees might hesitate to use these services because they are concerned that their employer will find out. Yet these programs are confidential, Stich said. Some employers even offer backup care, in which an employee can generally request care from a vetted network through an app or online portal, and only pay for a daily or hourly copay, according to Care.com, a service for families with care-related needs.

Employers also offer a variety of discount programs during open enrollment season for retailers, restaurants, movies and theater tickets, among other things. Employees who don’t seek out the benefits that their employers offer can miss out on something important, Stich said, adding that “it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

To learn about the latest changes that affect employee benefit plans, attend the Foundation for Accounting Education's Employee Benefit Plan Update & Hot Topics for Experienced Auditors Webinar on Dec. 14.